Midnight Cowboys
- Updated: October 31, 2016
Dak Prescott won the rookie quarterback duel with Carson Wentz.
Prescott rallied Dallas in the fourth quarter and threw a 5-yard pass to Jason Witten in overtime to give the Cowboys a 29-23 victory over the Philadelphia Eagles on Sunday night.
Prescott won his sixth straight game filling in for Tony Romo, the 10-year starter who is getting close to returning from a preseason back injury. And the 23-year-old recovered from a shaky start that included several poor throws, the worst an end zone interception to Jordan Hicks that cost Dallas points late in the first half.
Dez Bryant caught a tying 22-yard touchdown pass with 3:04 left in regulation as Dallas (6-1) overcame a 10-point deficit in the fourth quarter to take a two-game lead over the Eagles (4-3) in the NFC East.
Prescott finished 19 of 39 for 287 yards with two scores and the interception.
“He’s come back before this year for us,” coach Jason Garrett said, referring to a fourth-quarter rally in Washington and a comeback from a 14-0 deficit at San Francisco.
“He plays with the same mentality, the same demeanor, the same temperament regardless of what’s happened before. The best players I’ve been around were able to do that. He was outstanding at the end of this ballgame.”
Wentz had the Eagles in position for a win with another efficient performance, going 32 of 43 for 202 yards. But he couldn’t move Philadelphia late in regulation with the game tied. The Eagles never got the ball in overtime after Prescott led the 75-yard scoring drive.
“It’s just those late-game learning situations,” Wentz said. “We’ve got a young team and just to lose like that in the fourth quarter when we had our opportunities. We’ve just to learn and put them away if we can.”
On the winning play , Prescott started to his right before spinning back to his left and finding a wide-open Witten, who broke Ed “Too Tall” Jones’ franchise record with his 204th start.
“A lot went through my mind,” Prescott said. “Like, this is my first touchdown throw to Witten. This is the game-winner. Let’s get it to him. A special moment.”
Bryant had four catches for 113 yards, including a 53-yarder to set up the first Dallas touchdown, in the 2014 All-Pro’s return after missing three games with a hairline fracture in his right knee.
Ezekiel Elliott’s NFL rookie record of four straight games with at least 130 yards rushing end, but the NFL’s rushing leader played a big part on the winning drive with 18 yards rushing and a 10-yard catch that set up Witten’s score. He finished with 96 yards on 22 carries and had another 52 yards receiving.
Elliott also had two highlight plays in the first quarter on safety Rodney McLeod — first running through him on a 25-yard catch and hurdling over him on a 13-yard run during a drive to a field goal for a 10-3 lead.
Prescott’s TD pass to Witten tied Troy Aikman’s rookie franchise record of nine scoring passes after Wentz broke Donovan McNabb’s rookie mark of eight from 1999 with his ninth of the season, a 5-yarder to Jordan Matthews that put Philadelphia up 20-10 in the third quarter.
Darren Sproles had a season-high 86 yards rushing on 15 carries for the Eagles. Matthews had 11 catches for 65 yards.
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